Georgia Farmers Lash Out at Atlanta (water wars)

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2007/nov/14/111402276.html

CAMILLA, Ga. (AP) - Southwest Georgia is one of the most productive agricultural regions in Dixie, but you wouldn't know it from the soil under the corn, peanuts and cotton. It can be sandy, it can be pebbly, and it doesn't hold water very well.

That begins to explain why irrigation is so vital around here - and why the mere suggestion that some of the region's water might be taken away fills folks with fear and resentment.

With a historic drought gripping the Southeast, Georgia farmers are increasingly worried that their needs will be sacrificed to those of Atlanta - a city of runaway growth and seemingly unquenchable thirst - or water-guzzling Florida.

"Atlanta needs to take a hard look at what's happening in the metro area," said Bubba Johnson, a 68-year-old farmer who grows cotton and corn on a 500-acre plot. "There's going to be a heck of a battle if they try to come down here to get the water."

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who didn't know there was a drought.

I think they all ought to show up at his house with torches and pitchforks.

to Atlanta. North Georgia has several rivers that flow north into Tennessee and west into Alabama. They should just be diverted to keep Georgia's water in Georgia. :hide:

industry and energy for his water. Not really "Atlantans."

wet noodles -- for obvious reasons.

Cute. ;-)

In California, it's 10%, making household conservation efforts somewhat laughable. :(

Plan would cut Apalachicola River water flow

11/02/2007 © Tallahassee Democrat (Requires Login)


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A meeting of the governors of Alabama, Florida and Georgia in Washington, D.C., ended Thursday with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recommendation to reduce the minimum water flow in the Apalachicola River by 16 percent.

Alabama, Florida and Georgia have battled in court since 1990 over water from the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers. Georgia says its drinking-water supplies in a federal reservoir are threatened by the current drought.

The Corps of Engineers will forward its proposal to the U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service, which has agreed to review it within 14 days, said Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp of the Corps.

Gov. Charlie Crist issued a statement saying, "We all must share responsibility during the current drought."

"The people of Atlanta, the economy of the Florida Panhandle and the energy needs in Alabama and the Southeast must all be protected," he said.
The Corps of Engineers proposal received immediate criticism from a spokesman for the Apalachicola Riverkeeper group, which pointed out that oysters in Apalachicola Bay are dying because of increased salinity.

Crist said in a letter to President Bush last week that already low water flows are threatening the seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay.

Today, Crist said that along with the governors of Alabama and Georgia, "Florida is committed to a long-term solution that focuses on conservation of water on both the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers."

Under the Corps proposal, if rain returns to the region, the flow into the Apalachicola River would return to 5,000 cubic feet per second from the requested reduction to 4,200 cfs, Van Antwerp said.

The flows would remain at 5,000 cfs until reservoirs are returned to the proper level to insure against drought,Van Antwerp said.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said neighbors in the region must share in the adversity of the drought.

"Unfortunately, we find ourselves challenged to the point now we have to make some tough decisions," he said. He noted later that he had ordered water users in his state to reduce consumption by 10 percent.

David McLain, senior policy advisor for Apalachicola Riverkeeper, said of the Corps, "They want to fill up the reservoirs and top them off. That's just wrong."

He said oysters already are dying at the low flow levels because of high salinity in Apalachicola Bay.

"To reduce now without any compensation on the part of Georgia, without any compensatory reduction in their take-outs of water, is an absolute mistake and a crime," McLain said.

Georgia has asked a federal judge to order reductions in flow to the Apalachicola River by 60 percent or more if the drought continues. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19.

Perdue also said Georgia hasn't determined whether it will continue seeking a legal remedy.

Contact reporter Bruce Ritchie at (850) 599-2253 or britchie@tallahassee.com .